The New Feminized Majority in 2008 and beyond

Submitted by Charles Derber & Katherine Adam

The Democratic presidential primary is shaking up politics in a big way. The race has been electrifying: Oprah-style celebrity, grassroots power, and, most important, unwavering optimism—something Democrats haven't felt in years.

Progressives should hold onto this positive energy while they can. As John Kerry can attest, the general election is a totally different animal. Like George W. Bush in 2004, John McCain—the likely GOP candidate—will use fear and aggression in an attempt to ridicule the shining hope offered by the Democratic candidate.

To fight the GOP fear machine, the Democrats need to recognize the fundamental building blocks of the two parties: values. Only by understanding the values of each party can Democrats finally begin using them to progressives' advantage.

For many Democrats, it seems strange to talk about a values-based political strategy. We usually equate values with religion, and evangelical conservatives are typically the only group seen as values voters. Yet, values are nothing more than socially constructed ideals of how the world should be. Many aspects of a person's identity beyond religion create his or her value system, including age, race, and nationality. However, the most important values for Democrats to understand are values shaped by gender.

Women's history of oppression combined with their fights for liberation, have created what we term feminized values. These include empathy, cooperation, and a preference for non-violent solutions to conflicts. Data show that women form political opinions with these values in mind. In contrast, men's history of political and economic dominance socializes men into a system of masculinized values, including aggression and individualism.

It is important to understand that gendered values are not embedded in a person's DNA. Women are NOT inherently more peaceful and nurturing, men are NOT born as cutthroat, "every man for himself" individualists. (Just look at Condoleezza Rice and Dennis Kucinich.) One's values, including values linked to gender, are open to variance and change. Men can adopt feminized values, and, as we will show, millions have.

Women, who make up 53 percent of the electorate, are a huge political force, accounting for almost 60 percent of the vote in this year's primaries. Many strategists attribute Kerry's loss in 2004 to his winning the women's vote by only seven percent, compared to the 11 percent garnered by Al Gore in 2000. Luckily for Democrats, Kerry's loss doesn't detract from a much larger trend: women, in both their political opinions and vote choices, are becoming more and more progressive. And it's their feminized values that are driving them to the left.

Women's increasing progressivism won't lead to a battle of the sexes showdown. In fact, millions of men are following the feminized progressive example, holding opinions on issues that match those held by a majority of women. This points to the reason Obama or Clinton needs to pay close attention to gendered values: for the first time, feminized values—which are progressive, community-minded, and often closely aligned with Democratic Party policy—are now held by a majority of Americans.

While gender gaps still exist, a large enough minority of men support feminized principles to make them majoritarian. We find these values reflected in issue after issue, in poll after poll. From ending the Iraq War to funding stem cell research, from raising the minimum wage to adopting government-sponsored universal healthcare, the feminized position is the majoritarian position—which means it is the winning position.

The race between McCain and the Democratic candidate will boldly show the stark differences between feminized and masculinized morality. McCain's hypermilitarized foreign policy objectives and traditionalist social policies reflect his masculinized values. At events, he is often flanked by symbols of American masculinity, such as cops and soldiers. These visuals are an attempt to convey a subliminal promise of masculine protectionism: vote for me and men like these will keep your wives and children safe. The other unspoken part of this message is clear: Democrats are too weak and womanly to lead.

Unfortunately for McCain, a majority of Americans have turned away from this dated definition of "strength". With hundreds of thousands dying in Iraq, GIs returning home paralyzed or in body bags, and pictures circulating of hooded Iraqi prisoners with electrodes attached to their bodies, Americans are looking for a new kind of foreign policy. And with multiple corporate mergers, rising poverty rates, and economic inequality unparalleled since the Gilded Age, Americans can't afford anything but new domestic policies.

Obama or Clinton can provide an alternative to the morality offered by McCain. All they need to do is recognize the new feminized majority, and embrace it.

Katherine Adam, has been active in politics at federal, state, and local levels, including interning for Senator John Kerry.

Charles Derber is a noted social critic and Professor of Sociology at Boston College.

Adam and Derber collaborated on the newly released book, The New Feminized Majority: How Democrats Can Change America with Women's Values, which they are promoting with Pump Up Your Book Promotion in March 2008.